| Election Name: | 2013 Dunedin mayoral election |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Flag Image: | Dunedin city coa.gif |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2010 Dunedin mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 2010 |
| Next Election: | 2016 Dunedin mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Election Date: | 12 October 2013 |
| Candidate1: | Dave Cull |
| Party1: | Greater Dunedin |
| Popular Vote1: | 18,604 |
| Percentage1: | 50.4 |
| Candidate2: | Hilary Calvert |
| Party2: | Independent (politician) |
| Popular Vote2: | 6,474 |
| Percentage2: | 17.6 |
| Candidate3: | Lee Vandervis |
| Party3: | Independent (politician) |
| Popular Vote3: | 5,872 |
| Percentage3: | 16.0 |
| Poll1 Date: | 12 October 2013 |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Dave Cull |
| After Election: | Dave Cull |
The 2013 Dunedin mayoral election was held on Saturday, 12 October 2013 and was conducted under the single transferable voting system. Dave Cull, Dunedin's 57th mayor, was re-elected after seeing off eight challengers.
First-term incumbent Dave Cull was the first to enter the contest, announcing his candidature in January 2013.[1] He faced eight challengers, including one sitting councillor and one former Member of Parliament.[2]
Councillor Lee Vandervis, who placed third in the previous local body elections,[3] announced on 21 May that he would contest his fourth mayoralty; he had stood in every mayoral election since 2004.[4] Aside from Cull, Vandervis was the only current councillor seeking the mayoralty.
For the first time, the Green Party stood a candidate for the Dunedin mayoralty. Although former mayor Sukhi Turner was a member of the Green Party, she did not run for mayor on the party ticket.[5] Broadcaster Aaron Hawkins was confirmed by the Green Party on 24 May as their candidate.[6] Hawkins contested the 2010 mayoralty as an independent, when he came fourth.[3]
Former ACT Member of Parliament Hilary Calvert declared her candidacy, as an independent.[7] She also contested a seat on the City Council. Former United Future candidate and blogger Pete George also declared an independent bid for the mayoralty.[2]
The other mayoral candidates were two 2010 mayoral hopefuls Olivier Lequeux and Kevin Dwyer, as well as Steve McGregor and Andrew Whiley.
Cull was re-elected, beating Calvert and Vandervis to second and third place.[8] Both Calvert and Vandervis were elected to Council, as were fourth-placed Aaron Hawkins and fifth-placed Andrew Whiley.[9] [10]
| Candidate | Affiliation | First Preference | Last Iteration | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | +/- | Votes | % | ||
| 18,335 | 49.3 | +0.7 | 18,604 | 50.4 | ||
| 6,191 | 16.7 | 6,474 | 17.6 | |||
| 5,653 | 15.2 | +2.0 | 5,872 | 16.0 | ||
| 2,787 | 7.5 | +4.1 | 2,972 | 8.1 | ||
| Andrew Whiley | Independent | 2,674 | 7.2 | 2,962 | 8.0 | |
| Pete George | Your Dunedin | 704 | 1.9 | |||
| Olivier Lequeux | 487 | 1.3 | -1.3 | |||
| Kevin Dwyer | 206 | 0.6 | +0.2 | |||
| Steve McGregor | 179 | 0.5 | ||||
| Informal votes | 89[11] | |||||
| Turnout | 37,216 |